He Loves Me, She Loves Me Not
by Karebear49
Summary: There's a fleshie at Scare School, and to everyone's surprise she has caught the eye of a certain obnoxious vampire. Please read and review! (But go easy on me; I'm new at this)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: **I do not own Casper's Scare School, Little Shop of Horrors, or anything else present in this story except for Carly Bradford (and, you know, the plot).**

 **I should also point out that this story follows the canon of the movie more than the canon of the TV series. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

Ah, Scare School. A place where creatures of all shapes, species, and regions of the Underworld learn the proper methods of scaring fleshies until their blood boils and they run off crying for their mommies. Until now, that is. Now, the creatures of Scare School and the fleshies of Deedstown are on much friendlier terms, and are quite content with scaring (and being scared) just for fun.

And that's not all. Scare School has recently started something called the Fleshie Exchange Program, for fleshie kids who are interested in the supernatural. And though not everyone was on board with it (*cough* Thatch *cough*), new student Carly Bradford was welcomed with open arms…and claws…and tentacles.

Who's Thatch, you ask? Why, he's the coolest vampire this side of the Valley of the Shadows (at least, to him). And no matter what you say to change his mind, he hates fleshies. The only thing he likes about them is when they become pants-wettingly terrified when they see him on the street.

Only two fleshies have never shown fear of him; Casper the friendly ghost's friend Jimmy Bradley, and Carly.

Today, the school was holding auditions for their yearly musical, "Little Shop of Horrors." As auditions went on, Mickey, Monaco, and Triclops became the three chorus girls, Slither became Orin Scrivello, Quasi became Mr. Mushnik, and Wolfie became the voice of Audrey II.

Finally, the time had come to cast the role of Audrey. "Would any of you lovely ladies like to audition," said Alder, one of the headmasters.

"Don't sugarcoat it, Alder," said Dash, Alder's literal other half, "they all know they're hideous."

As the silence continued to dwindle, a voice finally piped up from the crowd. "I do."

All eyes drifted toward Carly, and Thatch practically burst out of his seat. "What? You can't be in the play," he yelled, "You're a fleshie!"

"Uh, I beg your pardon," Carly retorted, "but the posters said 'Open Auditions,' meaning anyone can try out."

Thatch scoffed. "Well, I'm pretty sure 'unless you're a fleshie' was implied."

"Oh, bite me, Blood Breath."

Before the argument could go any further, Alder and Dash stepped in.

"Alright, alright, break it up, you two," said Dash. "Thatch, I know it doesn't seem normal for a fleshie to be in a Scare School production, but Carly's right." Turning to her, he said, "You are free to audition."

"Thank you, sirs," Carly said, then turned and stuck her tongue out at Thatch, who did the same to her. She walked up to the stage, took a deep breath, and began to sing.

When she was finished, everyone in the room burst into applause. "Bravo, bravo!" cried Alder, tears flying off of his face. "Simply remarkable," added Dash, "I think we've found our Audrey." He picked up a clipboard and looked over the cast list. "Okay, now on to the final role, Seymour Krelborn. Who would like to audition for Seymour?"

At that, Thatch started up to the stage. "Are you kidding me," he chuckled, "You're seriously going to give these losers a chance? Everyone knows I'm destined to be the lead."

Dash rolled his eyes, but replied, "Alright, Thatch. If you think you have what it takes, let's hear your audition."

"Audition? Please," said Thatch, "you're better off just giving me the part."

"You still have to audition if you want to-"

Angrily, and through clenched teeth, Thatch growled, "Give. Me. The part."

Alder's head cowered behind Dash's as Dash sighed. "Congratulations, Thatch. You have the lead role."

As everyone in the room groaned, Carly seemed to be affected the most by this. _Seriously,_ she thought. _I have to act alongside_ him? As she glanced over at Thatch, who was receiving congrats from his (rather small) group of friends, he caught her watching him and sarcastically blew her a kiss. Carly groaned and buried her face in her hands.

It was going to be a long year.

In the two days she has so far spent in Scare School, Carly has made friends with Casper, Ra, Mantha, and Wolfie, but since there wasn't enough room at the lunch table for all of them, Carly was perfectly content with sitting by herself. As she texted her mother asking her to bring her some lunch, because the food they served in the cafeteria was very inedible to her, she was approached by the one person she didn't want to talk to.

"Hey, uh, Carly, right?" Thatch asked.

"What do you want, Blood Breath," she remarked, not daring to look up from her phone.

"I just think, you and me," he answered, "we got off on the wrong foot. And since we're going to be costarring in this play together, maybe we should start over. I'll go first." He cleared his throat and extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Thatch."

Carly finally glanced up at him and smirked. "And I'm leaving now, because from what I hear, you're a manipulative, egotistical jerk." With that, she walked away, returning to her phone as her mom texted her reply.

Thatch seemed completely oblivious to her dislike towards him. "So, I guess I'll see you around, then?" he called back, then he sighed, resting his head on his hand.

Casper and his friends noticed this exchange, and were slightly confused by the outcome. "Well, that was weird," commented Ra.

"I know, right?" Mantha remarked, "He was such a jerk to her at the auditions, but now he was genuinely trying to be nice to her."

"Hey," Casper said, "do you guys remember when I snuck Jimmy into Scare School? When Thatch found out he was a fleshie, he completely flipped out." He chuckled at the memory. "But he's not doing that with Carly."

"Well, with the implementation of the Fleshie Exchange Program, he really has no reason to," said Mantha."

Ra shrugged. "Yeah, but knowing Thatch, he still probably would have."

As Casper cast one more look towards Thatch, he noticed something strange in his demeanor. "Wait a minute," he muttered, floating over to where he sat. Thatch appeared to be staring off into space, sighing dreamily every once in a while. Casper also noticed a small line of drool running down his cheek (not that he was going to tell him that).

As he went back to his friends, he instantly came to a conclusion about what was going on.

"Guys," he told them, "I think he has a crush on her."

 **In case you're wondering, the song Carly sings at her audition is "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri (which I do not own).**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As soon as the words left Casper's mouth, Ra couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Thatch? Like a fleshie girl?" he said once he'd caught his breath, "Casper, buddy, I knew you were a friendly ghost, but no one ever told me you were a funny one, too."

Mantha rolled her eyes. "Ra, this is serious."

"Yeah, I mean, look at him," Casper said, gesturing to the vampire, still with a love-struck look on his face. "The signs are all there. Here, I'll show you."

He stood up and motioned for the others to follow him. Once they reached Thatch's table, Casper waved a hand in front of Thatch's face. He received no reaction.

"Dazed, faraway look," he began, ticking it off on his finger as he continued the list, "drooling; I'm pretty sure I've heard him sigh five times since Carly left." As Thatch sighed again, he added, "Six."

"Well," Ra said, "we don't know that it's because of her. He could be thinking about anyone."

"Hey, what's that written on the table?" Mantha wondered, and the boys' gaze drifted to where she was pointing. Next to Thatch's hand, which held a pencil, was a little doodle of a bleeding heart.

Inside the heart, he had written "Th + C."

Ra and Mantha gasped. "Casper," said Ra, "as usual, you're right." Returning to their table, they were still unable to remove the looks of shock from their faces. "Wow," Mantha finally said after a while, "Thatch likes a fleshie girl."

"Yeah," Ra added, "too bad she's never gonna give him the time of day."

As Mantha joined in on the laughter, she said, "I've got two words for you guys-Black, mail."

Casper weakly giggled along, although the two words in his mind rarely ever strung themselves together.

Poor Thatch.

…

"Thatch? Thatch!"

Thatch broke out of his daze as Harpy squawked in his ear. "What gives, chicken lips?" he yelled at her.

Harpy squawked again. "Bell rang! Lunch over!"

Once the ringing in his ears subsided, he looked down and noticed what had been written on the table. In his handwriting. Glancing at the clock in the far corner of the wall, he also realized that the ringing was an actual bell.

He was late for class.

 _Oh, crud,_ he thought as he quickly stood up, grabbed his backpack, and headed out the door. "See ya, Carly!"

Realizing his mistake too late, he turned back to Harpy's look of confusion. "I mean, Harpy," he corrected.

On his way to Mr. Burns' Science class, he continued to mentally kick himself for what had just happened. "What the heck is wrong with me," he said to himself. "There is no way I would ever like that stupid fleshie. I'm Thatch, for cryin' out loud!"

With his hand lingering over the doorknob, he said to himself, "Alright, Thatch. When you get in there, you're gonna tell the teacher why you're late, and you're gonna walk to your desk without another word. Don't make eye contact with her, don't even acknowledge her existence." Taking a deep breath, he repeated, "I am not in love with a fleshie girl. I am not in love with a fleshie girl."

He entered the classroom, doing his best to look nonchalant, and just as he was about to open his mouth-

There she was. Sitting in his desk.

The second he looked at her, time seemed to stop. He was aware of Mr. Burns' voice in his ear, but all he could say at the moment was "I…uh…" He couldn't remember a single word of his made-up excuse. All he thought now was how could someone look so pretty with their nose buried in a textbook.

No. Stop. It's a fleshie textbook, and there is nothing attractive about that.

"Well, Thatch," Mr. Burns said impatiently, "are you going to tell me why you were late to my class?"

Snapping back to reality, Thatch said, "Oh! Um…I got distracted. Sorry." Hey, it wasn't entirely a lie.

Even though he could see she was busy, he walked up to Carly and said, "Um, excuse me?"

"Ugh," she groaned. He had just gotten there, and she was already sick of him. "What now?"

Now, what Thatch meant to say was, "Move it, fleshie, you're sitting in my seat!", but what came out was, "Uh…you're in…that's my…"

As he continued to stutter, Carly couldn't help but remark, "What's the matter, Thatch? Bat got your tongue?"

Everyone expected Thatch to fight back, throw a few insults and maybe a threat or two in her face, but he just sat down in the desk right next to hers and told her, "Know what? It's fine. You…you can sit there." She had clearly stopped paying attention to him a long time ago, but he just couldn't stop rambling. "But just keep in mind," he stammered, "for future reference? That's my seat. So…so next time you're in this class, don't sit there 'cause that's my seat."

"Okay, yeah, I get it," Carly said, obviously annoyed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to do my 'fleshie homework' as you so affectionately call it, so unless you know the Pythagorean Theorem, I suggest you shut your yap!"

"Just so you don't forget, you wanna switch seats real quick?"

"That tears it!" she screamed, slamming her book shut and raising her hand. "Mr. Burns, may I please be excused? I'm trying to concentrate, and Blood Breath over here won't leave me alone."

"Carly, you may leave," Mr. Burns said, nodding. Then he nodded at Thatch, saying, "Thatch, see me after class."

Thatch realized what had just happened, and quickly hid behind his textbook to hide the fact that he was blushing.

This is not happening.

…

A short while later…

"So I thought Mr. Bradley had caught me with his Creature Catcher machine, I start freaking out, yelling "Jimmy help Jimmy help!" I turn around, and I just got closed in the window."

Ra laughed, even though Casper had told this story before. "Oh, yeah, that is pretty embarrassing, but it's nothing compared to the time Mantha caught me using her-"

He stopped when he heard a faint yet familiar voice nearby. "This is not happening. This is not happening," it kept saying.

Casper and Ra followed the voice to an old storage closet that was no longer in use. Casper opened the door and found Thatch sitting on an overturned box and muttering, "This is not happening," over and over again.

"Thatch? Are you oka-"

"Help me," Thatch interrupted, grabbing them both by the collar and yanking them into the closet with him.

…

 **I did not expect this chapter to be so long. Hopefully, it was worth it.**

 **It may be a while before I get the next chapter written. I have a ton of ideas for it and I can't decide which one I like best. Just stay tuned for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'M BACK FROM THE GRAVE! No really, I'm a zombie. Spread the word.**

 **Sorry it's been over 3 months since I updated this story, but I was in my school play (THE IRONY), I had to take the SAT the day** _ **after**_ **my birthday, etc. Life just got in the way.**

 **Hopefully this new chapter will make up for it. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3**

Before either of them could register what was happening, Casper and Ra found themselves crammed into a storage closet with Thatch, Casper's lower half phasing through the door.

"Dude, what's the matter with you?!" Ra exclaimed, adjusting his bandages.

That's what I wanna know," said Thatch. "Ever since that dumb fleshie came here, I've been feeling weird." As he explained his strange feelings, he thought about what had happened with Mr. Burns that afternoon. Oh, how he wished he could forget it…

…

" _Now, Thatch, I know having a fleshie in Scare School hasn't always been 'the norm' around here," Mr. Burns told him, putting air quotes around "the norm," "but at least give her a chance. You just might find that fleshies aren't as bad as you think."_

 _While Mr. Burns continued to lecture him, Thatch found himself much too lost in thought to pay attention. Most of what the teacher was saying was blurred out, so it sounded to him like, "Blah, blah, blah, Carly, fleshie, blah, blah, fleshie, blah Carly."_

 _Carly and Thatch. Thatch and Carly. He didn't know why, but for some reason when their names were put right next to each other, it just sounded_ right. _He found himself unable to get her out of his head-her curly brown hair, her vibrant green eyes, her beautiful voice-but more importantly, she had stood up to him. Not many fleshies had the guts to pull off such a feat, and it made her seem…it made her seem like…"_

" _Thatch! Are you listening to me?"_

 _Thatch snapped out of it when he saw a stream of fire shoot out over his head. "Huh? Oh! Uh, yeah," he stammered, "I-I hear you loud and clear, Professor." Exiting the classroom, he saw Carly at the other end of the hall. When she glanced back at him, he gave her a shy wave, which caused her to giggle. That giggle soon evolved into a snicker, which then became a full blown crack-up._

 _It wasn't until he saw Flyboy, Quasi, and Pumpkinhead do the same thing that he realized his hair was on fire._

…

"…and I get this queasy feeling in my stomach, my heart rate goes up, and I get all tongue-tied when I try to talk to anyone when she's in the room."

Ra tried his best not to laugh when he said, "Hate to break it to you, Thatch, but it looks like you like her."

Suddenly he found the vampire's hand clamped tightly over his mouth. "Shh!" he hissed, "Do you want the whole school to hear you?" He pointed at Casper and whispered, "And you! Can't you float the rest of the way in, or turn invisible or something? I swear, you are sticking out like a zombie's missing thumb."

Casper turned invisible, then noticed just how nervous Thatch looked at that moment, especially when he took his hand off of Ra's mouth and muttered, "Uh, I mean, no I don't."

It wasn't hard to see he was lying. "Thatch," Casper said, "this would be a lot easier for you if you just faced the facts. I mean, it's pretty obvious that you li-"

"Stop saying the L word!" Thatch interrupted, "In fact, don't say any of the L words. Not the L-I word, _definitely_ not the L-O word; none of those words apply to this situation, and…"

One look in the others' eyes was all it took for the fight to go out of him. They had won. Heaving a defeated sigh, he said, "Okay, fine. It's true. I-I like a fleshie girl." His voice quivered slightly at the word "fleshie." "There, I said it. Are you happy now?" Getting it off his chest frustrated him so much, and se had to restrain himself from punching the wall.

Casper floated next to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, which he immediately shrugged off. "Thatch, you need to calm down."

"How can I calm down?" asked Thatch, "Showing any kind of affection to a fleshie goes against everything I've ever stood for. And anyway, what does it matter?" He slumped down on the box and buried his face in his hands. "She hates me, and frankly, I don't blame her."

Casper thought about it, then told him, "Maybe we could change that. All you have to do is show her that you can be a nice guy."

Thatch looked at the friendly ghost and scoffed at him in disbelief. "There is no time for jokes, Sheet Boy," he retorted.

Then a lightbulb went off in his head. "Y'know, the problem is I don't know anything about her." _Except she's amazing,_ he thought.

"Well, that's not the main issue, but-"

Next thing he knew, Thatch was on his knees, another rare sight to see. "Please, Casper, "he begged, "At this point I'm out of options. I'm not asking for much. Just get to know her for me, and tell me her likes, dislikes, stuff like that."

After staying silent for several minutes, Ra finally piped up. "Wait a minute, why would we help you," he questioned, "What's in it for us?"

Thatch had expected this response, so he was ready with an answer. "Uh, the satisfaction of knowing you're helping someone in need?"

At the mummy's raised eyebrow, he added, "And five bucks?"

"Make it ten, and you've got yourself a deal," Ra said, as he and Casper reluctantly shook Thatch's hand.

 _This better be worth it,_ they each thought.

…

Later, on the athletics field, Casper noticed Carly sitting on a bench and listening to her headphones. He heard a slight twang in her voice as she sang along. " _It's alright, yeah I'll be fine. Don't worry about this heart of mine…"_

Country. He'd have to make a note of that.

…

 **I almost forgot- Shout-out to Maric and CreatorGirl608 for reviewing, and special thanks to flying werecats for busting me out of my writer's block. You guys rock! (Dang it that rhymes)**

 **I'll try to get the next chapter up here as soon as possible. Stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Over the next week, Casper kept notes on everything he could find out about Carly. He tried his best not to seem suspicious when he worked questions into conversation, and listened in on some of her conversations with other creatures. It wasn't like he didn't respect her privacy; he was doing it for love!

"C'mon, Carly. Please," he heard Mickey beg from his hiding spot behind a pillar in the main hall.

"We'll be your best buddies," Monaco added.

The next voice he heard was Carly's. "Sorry, guys. I don't want a makeover. Not every girl cares about fashion as much as you girls do, and I happen to be one of them." He listened to her footsteps leave the Twins behind, followed by a mutter of, "Man, those girls are persistent!"

Casper pulled out a notepad and pencil and looked over his list. So far, he had written, "Loves music, esp. country; hates seafood; middle name Vanessa," and now he added, "Doesn't care about fashion."

"Hey, Casper."

Casper jumped when he saw Carly right in front of him. He quickly hid the notepad behind his back, which wasn't much help considering he was transparent. "Uh, hey Carly," he said, hoping she didn't notice the slight tremble in his voice. "How's it going?"

"Eh, same old, same old," she shrugged. "What are you writing?"

"Uh, just, um…" he stuttered, "notes for…a class." Before she could ask him which class, he noticed the object she was holding and quickly changed the subject. "Hey, whatcha got there?"

"Uh," she began, because it was pretty obvious what it was, "a…book?"

"So, I take it that means you like to read?"

"Yeah. Are you feeling okay?"

If ghosts could sweat, then that's definitely what Casper was doing. "I'm okay, why wouldn't I be okay, are you okay?" He had to get out of there before he blew his cover. "Listen, I've gotta go, uh, haunt the bathroom," he lied.

"O-okay," Carly called as he left, "See you later."

Once he was out of her sight, he took the notepad back out and added, "likes to read."

…

"…she really likes Mexican food, she's left-handed, a Virgo, she has an older sister named Trish, she can play the piano, and she's allergic to peanuts."

As Thatch wrote this information in his own notebook, he asked Casper, "Okay, this is good. What's her favorite color?"

"Purple."

 _Like my eyes,_ Thatch thought. "So, now that that's taken care of, looks like I've got work to do."

It turns out, trying to impress a girl wasn't as easy as he thought, even for him. It took forever to find a time when she was alone, and his attempt to serenade her went awry when he forgot the words to the song and broke three of his guitar strings. He had later found the book that he had left on her bed in the trash (she didn't actually know it was from him; she had read it before and couldn't stand it). He was starting to run out of ideas, but in History he saw something written in Mantha's planner that he was sure would help him out.

Sept. 17th-Carly's birthday.

 _That's in three days,_ he thought. He remembered Casper telling him she had a sweet tooth, and he knew exactly what to get her.

It may have been hard to impress her, but it wasn't hard to sneak into Mr. Burns' room to get the supplies he needed.

…

Carly's birthday party had been more than a success. The sea monster didn't try to disrupt the festivities, she could actually eat the cake without gagging, and best of all, Blood Bre-ahem, Thatch-was the only one not in attendance.

About fifteen minutes after lights out that night, Carly was called back to the dorm by Mantha while she was brushing her teeth.

"I found this package under my bed," she told her, showing her a purple tin with a red ribbon tied around it, "the tag has your name on it."

Carly wondered why this present wasn't given to her at the party. There was a little note written on the other side of the tag that read, "Happy birthday. Hope you like this. Signed, Thatch.

 _Blood Breath got me a present,_ she thought. "Mantha, open this for me," she suddenly asked, thrusting the tin back into the zombie's arms, "and please make sure whatever's in it isn't poisonous."

As Mantha began untying the ribbon, Carly stood as far away as possible, speculating what might be in it. _Maybe it's a stink bomb,_ she thought, _or a cobra. I swear, if it's one of those glouches I keep hearing about-_

"It's a duck."

Carly forced herself to step a little closer as Mantha pulled a purple rubber duck with a green beak out of the tin.

"Is it feral," she asked, still slightly paranoid.

"No," Mantha giggled, then pointed to the tin, "but that's not all."

Carly looked inside the tin and found eight red velvet cupcakes.

…

The next day, Thatch found Carly sitting on a bench outside, listening to music and munching on a cupcake. "Hey," he said, sitting on the bench next to her.

When she looked up him, she actually cracked a small smile. "Hey."

"So, are you surprised your duck hasn't tried to eat you, yet?"

"I'm even more surprised with how good these cupcakes are," she told him as she took another bite. "You made these?"

"Yep," he replied, a little too smugly, but she didn't seem to mind.

As she reached for another, she said, "You know what, Blood Breath? You're not as bad as I thought you were."

"I'm glad you like 'em," Thatch said, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ask her on a date. "You have no idea how hard it was to get the blood batter just right."

"I can't believe you actually went through the trouble to-" She froze before she could take a bite out of the next one. "Wait…did you say, _blood_ batter?"

"I didn't get it to the consistency I wanted it, but once you get past that, they're pretty good, huh?"

Carly ignored his question and stared at the previously delicious confection still in her hand.

They were _blood cakes._

And she had already eaten _half_ of them.

She quickly stood up and ran to the nearest bush as a wave of nausea overcame her. Thatch flew to her side as she began to barf. "Are you okay?!" he asked, reaching out to pat her on the back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to-"

"Get away from me!" she yelled before coughing up more cake.

Over the school's intercom, Alder and Dash commanded Carly and Thatch to "report to the auditorium for rehearsal." Despite the current state his ingénue was in, he was sure she didn't want him to wait on her. As he transformed into a bat and flew away, she called out to him, "When they ask why I'm late, make sure they know it was your fault!"

After all of this effort, Thatch was back to square one.


	5. Chapter 5

**Once again, the only thing I own in this story is Carly Bradford. Everything else belongs to its rightful owner.**

 **Enjoy (This took me three hours)!**

…

Chapter 5

 _Suddenly Seymour_

 _He purified me_

Thatch had been bracing himself for this scene all throughout rehearsal.

 _Suddenly Seymour_

 _Showed me I can_

He had been told not to kiss her until the real show, but he just couldn't wait any longer.

 _Learn how to be more_

 _The girl that's inside me_

Here it comes…

 _With sweet understanding_

Let's do this.

 _Seymour's my man!_

He had barely given her any time to react before embracing her and pressing his lips to her own. Oh, he had expected it to be a good kiss, but the fact that he could still taste the blood cakes on her breath made it even better.

From his viewpoint at least.

For Carly, she hadn't even stopped holding the note before she was met with a mouthful of fangs.

"Okay, can we cut, please," Carly yelled to the headmasters, pushing Thatch away.

"What's the matter, Carly," asked Dash.

"Yeah, I think that went pretty good," added Thatch.

"That's your definition of 'pretty good,'" Carly exclaimed, "I know the script says the kiss is spontaneous, but seriously? Were we making out or were you trying to eat me?"

Thatch was slightly taken aback by this remark. He had, of course, expected her to be mad, but he didn't know he was _that_ bad of a kisser (Of course, judging by their previous encounter outside, this wasn't the issue).

"Can we just skip to the part where I get eaten?"

"Why don't we take a five-minute break," suggested Alder, "and we'll pick it up from here. Let's give our leading lady time to touch up her makeup."

Carly was already storming her way offstage, and when Thatch caught up to her, she was sitting in front of a vanity mirror dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

 _I made her cry?_ Thatch thought. "Carly?"

Without turning around, she muttered, "Go away, Thatch."

"Carly, please," he protested, "I've tried to be nice, I apologized for the cupcake thing, didn't I? What more do I have to do to show you we can be friends?"

"How do I know you really want to be friends," Carly retorted, rising from her chair. "How do I know this isn't all just an act? Face it, Blood Breath; no matter what you say or do to change my mind, I hate you. So here's what I'm thinking-the second that curtain closes tomorrow night, that's it. We never have to see, talk to, or think about each other ever again and-"she stopped when she started to sob. "Just leave me alone," she said, turning back to the mirror.

Thatch knew that now wasn't the best time to try to talk to her, but he also hated to see her like this. Everything he did to try and make peace with her seemed to have the opposite effect, but he hadn't expected it to make her cry.

Maybe this wasn't about that.

There was definitely more to why she was upset. What she needed was a friend.

And even though he really wanted to, Thatch would never fit that description.

…

"So he really-"

"Yep."

"And he asked you to-"

"I know, I'm not happy about it either."

If one more creature knew about Thatch's crush, thank Kibosh it was Wolfie. It was a miracle no one else was concerned about his behavior, and Casper was thankful Wolfie had asked him about it. He figured, along with Ra and Mantha, he could use another set of hands (especially since Ra was anything but subtle, to put it bluntly).

Immediately after being sent to the girls' dorm to confront Carly about the situation, Wolfie peeked his head out of the door and said, "Uh, Casper, I'm gonna need reinforcements."

Casper didn't know what to expect when he went in, but what he saw certainly took him by surprise. Carly was sitting at the foot of her bed, crying her eyes out, clutching the duck in her hand.

Mantha was trying to comfort her, but Carly wasn't giving her much acknowledgement. "Carly, I can't really help you if I don't know what the problem is."

"That's the thing," Carly replied, sniffling, "I don't know either. But I do know it has something to do with that obnoxious, bull-headed, good for nothing-" She threw the duck across the room as hard as she could, causing it to phase through Casper and bounce off the wall with a squeak.

"Carly," Ra said, "you can't blame every problem you've been having lately on Thatch.

 _Of course I can,_ she thought, _of course this is all his fault._ Okay, so he wasn't responsible for _everything,_ but the cupcakes, the kiss-those were on him. But she knew he hadn't intended to upset her. She knew he meant well. She knew he liked her.

She knew she was starting to feel the same way.

When she heard the four creatures gasp, she realized she had said it out loud.

"Wow, I figured it would take at least another month," Wolfie whispered.

"Don't even worry about it, you guys," Carly said, "my heart is telling me, 'go for it,' but my brain is saying, 'don't bother,' and I think that's the better one to listen to."

But that wasn't true. Casper and the others noted the effort Thatch had been taking to show her how he felt. Heck, he gave her one of his beloved ducks; that should've been proof enough that he really, genuinely cared about her.

"Well, then, we'll just have to prove your brain wrong," said Casper, "You want proof he's right for you? I've got a plan, but it's pretty dangerous. And I'm sorry, guys, but it involves sabotaging the play."

It didn't matter to Carly as much as it did to Wolfie ("I put so much work into this role, Casper"), but he was still for it. Sneaking into Burns' lab was easier for them than it was for Thatch, mainly because the door was unlocked.

…

Opening night…

The auditorium was packed with creatures (living and undead) and a few fleshies (all living, of course) eagerly awaiting the performance. When he peeked through the curtain, Quasi nearly fainted from stage fright, and after being told to "break a leg," Mickey and Monaco tripped after their femurs came disconnected, but besides those few bumps, everyone was ready to go.

Well, almost everyone.

She was sitting in front of the mirror reapplying her mascara when he approached her. "Carly," he said, "can we please talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about, Thatch," she said, "After the show, we'll be out of each other's hair forever."

Before he could respond, Alder shouted (with a megaphone pointed directly in Dash's ear), "Alright, it's showtime, people. Mickey, Monaco, and Triclops, to the stage!"

"Would you turn that off, you moron," Dash asked, "They are literally right there in front of you."

"Sorry," he said into the megaphone again.

And just like that, the conversation was over. The house lights were dimming, the curtain was opening, and the music began playing.

"On the 23rd day of the month of September…"

…

At this point, the only thing Thatch could do was forget about Carly and go through the motions of the play. His frustration really helped him go all out during the "Feed Me" song, and Carly didn't resist the kiss as much as she did in rehearsal (although he did bite her lip this time).

Eventually, it was time to put the plan into action. Ra and Mantha stole the Audrey II puppet and hid it in the storage closet, along with Wolfie himself. Casper thought it would be impossible to get the real plant to behave, but being the friendly ghost and good negotiator that he was, it calmed down almost instantly.

Carly ran onstage and stared in awe at the giant flytrap. "Oh my God," she recited, "I don't believe it."

While Audrey II was supposed to say, "Believe it, baby. It talks," this plant just stared at her.

"Psst!" Carly whispered, hoping no one saw her turn off her microphone, "Wolfie, say your line."

The plant began to emit a rumbling growl, and she feigned realization of…

"You…you're a…a…real…"she stammered before slumping to the ground in a dramatic faint.

The audience and cast watched horrified as this scene unfolded. "Woah, what's happening, dude?" exclaimed Slither.

"Oh no," Ra gasped, "Audrey II has been replaced with a real Venus flytrap."

"Who would pull off such a stunt," cried Mantha.

"Quick, someone has to help Carly," said Casper. Needless to say, none of them would be taking home an Oscar anytime soon.

Thatch looked out to the stage at his fallen damsel in distress, and knew what had to be done. He didn't have much of a reputation for being a hero.

But he wasn't going to let her leave him that easily.

…

People were scrambling over each other to escape the auditorium as the plant inched ever closer to Carly's vulnerable form, and just when it was about to clamp its jaws shut over her…

"Hey, Twoey!"

The plant looked up from its prey to see Thatch flying overhead. "Come and get it," he teased.

As the plant attempted to swat the little bat down like a mosquito, he noticed a loose electrical cord from one of the lights, grabbed it, and attached it to one of the plant's exposed roots. The shock affected not just them, but Carly too, and when the plant exploded, it sent them both flying.

Thatch quickly recovered from the impact and adjusted his costume's (now broken) glasses. "Carly," he gasped when he ran to her, then noticing some creatures still in the audience, "I-I mean Audrey."

He tried to stay in character, and tried even harder not to cry as he held her. "Oh, Audrey, please don't die."

Carly struggled to speak. "C'mon, you can do it. Say your line," Thatch told her, before her eyelids fluttered shut and her body went slack in his arms.

…

The curtain began to close as he hugged her tight. "I'm sorry Carly," he whispered, "I'm sorry I didn't make it to you in time; I'm sorry I'm such a jerk; I'm sorry for everything."

Thatch was grateful that no one could see him in this state as an acidic tear rolled down his cheek and sizzled onto Carly's arm.

His gasp was one of surprise and relief when he heard her wince. "Carly?"

She pushed away from him, gentler than last time, and said, "If I had known you cried acid, and that you were gonna blubber like a baby, maybe I would've done this differently."

"Wait a minute," he asked, "you weren't really in danger?"

"Well, I think we know who the better actor is."

"You were faking this whole time," he said angrily.

"Thatch, calm down," Carly said, "you are making way too big a deal out of this."

"What's the big deal," he exclaimed, "I thought you were dead! Do you have any idea how devastated I was? You could've at least told me it was fa-"

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me!"

Thatch had never expected to be on the receiving end of the kiss, and it caught him slightly off guard. Even though this was what he wanted, he was also confused. Why had her feelings changed so suddenly?

"I don't understand," he said once they'd parted.

"Thatch, you thought I was in trouble, so you tried to save me," she told him, "which proves you care about someone other than yourself."

Thatch felt his cheeks grow hot and realized he must've been blushing like a fool. "So…does that mean that you, uh, want to be my girlfriend?"

Carly placed a finger on her chin, appearing to think long and hard about her answer, though he already knew what it was. "On one condition," she said, "we never tell anyone about us. The only people who know are Casper, Ra, Mantha, and Wolfie, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Thatch agreed. He didn't even want to think about what his gang would do to him if they found out he was dating a fleshie. "My lips are sealed."

They had made it halfway to the door before they let go of each other's hands.

…

 **Finally! Bet you thought it would never happen, didn't you?**

 **Stay tuned. There's more to this story!**


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

After all of the chaos and general disaster that was the play, it was about time Scare School had a chance to cool off and relax, and what better place for that than the school dance? Wolfie had the music turned up loud, and everyone was having a toe-tapping, punch-drinking good time. Still, something odd was missing from this puzzle.

"Too bad Thatch didn't come," said Mosshead.

"He said he had something more important to do," replied Slither.

"What could be more important than dancing the night away with your friends," wondered Dummygirl.

Little did they know, Thatch _was_ there, but he was outside with Carly in an area where they couldn't be seen, having a private dance party of their own.

"Whoa, Thatch, you've got some moves," Carly said, giggling, "I'm not saying they're _good_ moves, but-"

"Hey, you're one to talk, Miss Stumbled-After-One-Step," Thatch retorted.

Casper and Ra were standing just a few feet away, leaned against the wall. They told themselves they were "keeping lookout" to make sure no one else saw them, but that was clearly code for "spying."

"Y'know, in a weird way," said Casper, "they're actually kinda cute together."

It truly was hard to believe that the couple dancing and laughing together in the corner had absolutely hated each other just the other day.

Suddenly, the music began to slow down, and Carly lit up like a firework. "I love this song," she beamed.

Thatch knelt down in front of her and held out a hand. "May I have this dance?"

"Of course you may."

As they swayed to the rhythm, Thatch couldn't help listening to the lyrics. He felt like they were telling Carly everything he wanted to say for him. The song told her if she was ever upset and in need of a friend, Thatch was the one to count on. He would always be there to dry her tears or catch her when she falls. With her, he felt like a completely different person.

"I love you, Blood Breath."

"You know he owes us money, right," Ra said as they kissed.

"We can get it from him later," Casper told him, "Let him have this moment."

"Hope you guys are enjoying the show over there," Thatch suddenly shouted, not taking his eyes off of Carly.

"Is it too much to ask for some privacy around here," she added.

Casper and Ra took the hint, delivering their excuses that Mantha and Harpy might be wondering where they are. "Now, where were we," Thatch asked, and the two lovebirds held onto each other through the end of the song.

 _I will stand by you_

 _I will help you through_

 _When you've done all you can do_

 _And you can't cope_

 _I will dry your eyes_

 _I will fight your fight_

 _I will hold you tight_

 _And I won't let go_

…

 **What, no, I'm not crying! I've just got some feels in my eye.**

 **I honestly never thought I'd make it this far. I hope you all enjoyed it, and are looking forward to more Carly and Thatch in the future (and if you're not, well, too bad, you're gettin' it anyway** **).**


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